Spiral of Silence & Knowledge Gap

This Mass Communication Theory is originally proposed by Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann - a German political scientist back in 1974. The theory of Spiral of Silence is the term meant to refer the one view that dominated the public scene and the people who are invisible from the public awareness, the tendency of the people to remain silent because of fear of separation or isolation to those around them because they feel that their views are contrary to the public’s or majority’s view on a subject.

In this theory, it explains that people constantly observe other’s behavior and comply with their approval or rejection of the public sphere. People tend to mask their thoughts and opinions when they feel that they would bare themselves to isolation pressure because of their opinion. On the other hand, the ones that are powerful or dominating who feels public support are the ones who express their opinions aboveboard and loud which creates the spiral of silence into motion because of the anxiety of the other. This theory says that the process is usually ignited by emotions and morally laden issues, the spiral is usually caused by controversial issues.

According to the Spiral of Silence Theory, Mass media may have a significant influence on the formation of the public opinion through supporting one side in a public controversy, the side will stand significantly than the other and putting the spiral of silence in motion.  The opinion of the public is limited in time and space. People live in societies therefore public opinion will function as a mechanism of social control. Hence, public opinions approves or rejects will change with time and differ from place to place.

An example of spiral of silence in media today is through the use of Social Networking Sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram and more. People constantly observes the behaviors of those who are around them and observing those who gain approval and rejection unconsciously. The spiral of silence is present in social networking sites and has become a constant cycle. Social Media are always at the reach of our finger tips, awaiting us to sign in and observe interactions.

A sub-example of this is the recent presidential election.  People tend to base their vote according to what they see online, what they think is socially accepted by many. Confident people post their insights on sites on the social issues while others take a step back and click on the like button or the dislike button without further discussions on the said issue. The media coverage slowly shapes an individual’s perception of public sentiment on an issue and these individuals fear isolation continuously.

Knowledge Gap Theory was defined by Philip J Techenor, George Donohue and Clarice N Olien. In this theory, it explains that knowledge is treated as any other commodity that is unequally distributed throughout the society and the ones that has the power has more access to it. As access to mass media increases, segments of population receive the information faster which increases the gap between the ecomonic statuses of the population.

2^nd example:

In a company, the managing director decides to post a memorandum of working hours increase which starts from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm. Majority of the employees accepted the time changes and the few are in contrary or not satisfied with this decision however, they feel overpowered by the majority hence, they cannot express their thought publicity because of fear of isolation or worst, the fear of being dismissed by the authority.

Many of us, are unconsciously silent and has the fear of isolation, we show signals of approval or disapproval depending on the norms of the society we live in. The Knowledge Gap and Spiral of Silence explains the current social gap between the powerful and the frail where the Spiral of Silence explains the reticence of the ones that belong to the lower economic status that causes Knowledge Gap to the frail and the weak. These theories work hand in hand to what we live in today.